As more people are vaccinated against COVID-19 and pandemic restrictions lifted, many Jacksonville residents are venturing out, returning to restaurant dining rooms only to find them closed for the day or waiting longer to be seated or served because of the continuing restaurant worker shortage.
It s not uncommon for customers to be greeted by signs reading Closed Monday or Now Hiring at their favorite place while waiting in line to be seated despite an abundance of empty tables.
On Monday, popular Pink Salt Restaurant and Wine Bar in San Marco became the most recent restaurant to announce it was temporarily changing its hours, closing Mondays and putting lunch service on hold due to a staff shortage.
A year ago, Jacksonville s restaurant owners faced a challenge: how to adapt and survive amid a mandatory shutdown of dining rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To keep the lights on and serve their customers and keep as many of their employees on the job as possible they did just that. They added drive-thrus, pivoted to takeout only, added curbside pickup and launched in-house delivery services. Some even added food trucks.
Others, however, were forced to turn off the lights altogether either temporarily or, in some cases, forever.
Now, with vaccine centers up and running, mask mandates discontinued and social distancing a distant memory, people are returning to Jacksonville restaurants in close to pre-pandemic numbers.